Good morning. Happy Friday.
Employment numbers are out. We’ll get to those in a minute.
Asia/Pacific closed mixed. Hong Kong and Seoul rallied over 2%. India fell 2.9% and Australia and Malaysia dropped just over 1%. Japan was flat.
Europe, which was still open for trading at the time the employment numbers in the US hit the wires, is experiencing solid, across the board selling pressure. Norway and Stockholm are down more than 4%. Austria, Belgium, France, Amsterdam, Italy and Spain are down more than 3%. Germany almost 3% and London 1.4%.
30 minutes before the open, the US markets are looking at a sizeable opening gap down. Futures were down moderately prior to the employment report; those losses doubled up soon after the numbers were released. Nas 100 futures are down 20 (1.8%) to trade at 1115 and SPX futures are down 15.5 (1.9%) to trade at 832.
US employers cut 533,000 jobs in November, the most in 34 years. The unemployment rate is up to 6.7%, a 15-year high. Job losses were widespread, hitting factories, construction companies, financial firms, retailers, leisure and hospitality, and others industries. The few places where gains were logged included the government, education and health services.
Germany’s central bank predicted Friday the country’s economy will shrink 0.8 percent next year.
The Prime Minister of Singapore says the country faces slow growth for several more years as the global downturn undermines demand for the city-state’s exports.
Goldman Sachs today issued a report telling investors to “remain defensive” since the start of 2009 “is unlikely to bring a change in the dynamic of growth.”
Brown-Forman (BF/A) said Q2 profit rose 11%; they raised its full-year earnings projection.
Cascade (CAE) Q3 profit dropped 16% on lower sales in North American, Europe and China, but the number beat expectations.
Mobile Mini (MINI) is laying off 135 employees at its Maricopa, AZ facility because its restructuring its manufacturing operations.
Johnson Outdoors (JOUT) swung to a large loss in its latest quarter; they plan to halt their dividend and cut jobs to respond to the global economic slump which is hurting sales of boats and other products.
BMW said its global sales last month slide 25%.
Gold is down 1.62% and silver is down 2.43%.
Crude oil is down 7 cents to trade at 43.60.
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| UPGRADES | BT, SWY, ARTC, SAFM |
| DOWNGRADES | GSIT, LSCC, FCS, TXN, ADI, ALTR, MOV, BWLD, TE, ENER, BBG, BRY, CBST, SIRO, AMRI, PRAA |
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| EARNINGS | |
| before the open | BIG, BTH, BF.B |
| during trading | none |
| after the close | none |
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ECONOMIC RELEASES
8:30 Average Workweek
8:30 Hourly Earnings
8:30 Nonfarm Payrolls
8:30 Unemployment Rate
15:00 Consumer Credit
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